According to CBS Boston, which broke the story, the operator has dumped Spanish-speaking callers a total of three times, a significant number considering that 75 percent of Lawrence is Spanish-speaking.
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A female 911 dispatcher in suburban Boston is in trouble for hanging up on callers who do not speak English.
Instead of getting a translator and trying to solve the problem the dispatcher can be heard saying she ‘only speaks English.’.
“No, just English,” the operator responds.
“We came across these particular calls showing that this person was ineffective at their job, so we took it upon further investigation, [and decided to] look into it as a personnel matter”, Fitzpatrick says.
CBS reported that Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick is “disgusted” with the situation.
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera told the Lowell Sun that the dispatcher’s actions may have endangered the lives of the city’s residents.
The police chief said he is inclined to fire the dispatcher (who has been on the job for about eight years) outright, but is now negotiating with her union.
“It’s not just they didn’t do their job, they put people in harm’s way”, said Mayor Daniel Rivera of Lawrence.
This is actually her third offense and as of now she been place on paid leave.
“Don’t hesitate to call the Lawrence Police Department regardless of language barrier,” he said.
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He said that the operator is supposed to connect Spanish-speaking callers with translators if they can not be understood.
